This invention pertains to the refining of isophorone and particularly to a process for reducing the color in crude isophorone.
Isophorone is used in industrial solvents and as a chemical intermediate for the synthesis of resins, dyes, insecticides, and like. It is generally made by the ALDOL condensation of acetone which results in contamination of the main product with many by-products, such as, 4,6-dimethylhepta-3,5-diene-2-one, 3,5,5-trimethylcyclohex-3-ene-1-one, phorone, mesitylene, 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl tetrahydropyran-4-one, xylitones and isoxylitones, 3,3,6,8-tetramethyl-1-tetralone, and the like.
There is a need for an efficient method of treating crude isophorone to produce a low colored, refined product.